George Osborne accused of ‘trading on his ministerial contacts book’ over new job at asset management firm

The former Chancellor is already earning a considerable amount from lucratively paid speeches to Wall Street banks

George Osborne (Getty)

George Osborne has been accused of “trading on his ministerial contacts book” in his new role at the asset management firm Blackrock.

It comes after the former Chancellor revealed his advisory role at the company last week, around six months after Theresa May sacked him from the Cabinet after entering Downing Street.

Mr Osborne is expected to work with the company’s Investment Institute, which produces research on global economics for the company’s fund managers. While his remuneration has not been made public, it is expected to run in to the hundreds of thousands.

The former Chancellor is already earning a considerable amount from lucratively paid speeches to Wall Street banks.

The appointment was approved by the independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments (Acoba) earlier this month. In a letter the committee said it had “no concerns” about Mr Osborne’s new role, adding: “None of the general policy decisions from your time in office were specific to Blackrock”.

But questions have reportedly been raised over his role after he met with executives at the firm five times in his last two years at the Treasury. There is no suggestion the prospect of a job with the company was discussed at any of the meetings.

The Daily Mail, claims Acoba has amended an earlier statement to reflect these concerns. It said the Committee "was reassured by confirmation from your former department, Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) that there were no specific policy decisions from your time in office that would have specifically affected Blackrock."

This was changed to: "It [the Committee] was reassured by confirmation from your former department, Her Majesty’s Treasury (HMT) that whilst you were responsible for general policy decisions that would have affected the asset management industry, none of the decisions from your time in office were specific to Blackrock."

John Mann, the Labour MP Bassetlaw who sits on the Treasury Select Committee, told the newspaper the former Chancellor was “trading on his ministerial contacts book”.

He said: “This looks very bad. It is outrageous if he makes any contact at all with the Bank of England, the regulator or the Treasury.”

But A spokesman for Mr Osborne told the Daily Mail: “Blackrock is a highly respected financial institution that employs many people here in the UK and helps British pensioners and savers get a better deal.

“Chancellors and other ministers have always met with them, and continue to do so, as they meet regularly with other major British employers - and the fact of those meetings is, rightly, made publicly available at the time.

“The independent Advisory Committee on Business Appointments is there to ensure that any appointments of ex-Ministers are properly vetted.

“Not only have they cleared this appointment; but they explicitly say in their letter to Mr Osborne that “none of the decisions from your time in office were specific to BlackRock; and the [Treasury] Permanent Secretary had no concerns about you taking up this post”.